Method for the amplification and detection of hbv dna using a transcription based amplification

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for the transcription based amplification of a target HBV nucleic acid sequence starting from HBV DNA optionally present in a sample, comprising the steps of,—incubating the sample, suspected to contain HBV, in an amplification buffer with one or more restriction enzymes capable of cleaving the HBV DNA at a selected restriction site, said restriction enzyme creating a defined 3′ end of the said HBV DNA strand(s), a promotor-primer, said promotor-primer having a 5′ region comprising the sequence of a promotor recognized by a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and a 3′ region complementary to the define 3′ end of the DNA strand, a second or reverse primer, having the opposite polarity of the promotor-primer and comprising the 5′ end of the said target sequence, and in case of HBV ssDNA as the target sequence, a restriction primer,—maintaining the thus created reaction mixture under the appropriate conditions for a sufficient amount of time for a digestion by the restriction enzyme to take place,—subjecting the sample thus obtained to a heat treatment at a temperature and time sufficient to inactivate the restriction enzyme and/or to render at least partially a double strand single stranded,—adding the following reagents to the sample: an enzyme having RNA dependent DNA polymerase activity, an enzyme having DNA dependent DNA polymerase activity, an enzyme having Rnase H activity, an enzyme having RNA polymerase activity, and—maintaining the thus created reaction mixture under the appropriate conditions to a sufficient amount of time for the amplification to take place.

The present invention is directed to a transcription based amplificationmethod for the amplification of HBV DNA.

Nucleic acid amplification methods are used in the field of molecularbiology and recombinant DNA technology. These methods are used toincrease the number of copies of a particular nucleic acid sequence,present in small amounts and often in an environment in which a widevariety of other nucleic acid sequences, both RNA and DNA, are alsopresent. In particular, nucleic acid amplification methods are used tofacilitate the detection or quantification of nucleic acid and areimportant for diagnosing for example infectious diseases, inheriteddiseases and various types of cancer. Nucleic acid amplification methodshave also found their applications in other fields where samples areinvestigated in which nucleic acid may be present in minute amounts,such as forensic sciences, archeology or to establish paternity.

Several nucleic acid amplification techniques are known based ondifferent mechanisms of action. One method for the amplification ofnucleic add is known as the “Polymerase Chain Reaction” (PCR) isdescribed in European patent applications EP 200362 and EP 201148.

The present invention is concerned with a different class of nudeic acidamplification methods namely the “transcription based amplificationtechniques”. With these methods multiple RNA copies are obtained from aDNA template that comprises a functional promoter recognized by the RNApolymerase. Said RNA copies are used as target from which new DNAtemplates are obtained etc. Gingeras et al. in WO88/10315 and Burg etal. in WO89/1050 have described such methods. Isothermal transcriptionbased amplification techniques have been described by Davey et al. in EP323822 (relating to the NASBA method), by Gingeras et al. in EP 373960and by Kacian et al. in EP 408295. Transcription based amplificationreactions may also be performed with thermostable enzymes. Transcriptionbased amplifications are usually carried out at a temperature around 41degrees Celsius. Thermostable enzymes allow the reaction to be carriedout at more elevated temperatures. Such a thermostable method isdescribed in EP 682121 filed in the name of Toyo Boseki KK.

The methods as described in EP 323822, EP 373960 and EP 408295 areisothermal continuous methods. With these methods four enzyme activitiesare required to achieve amplification: an RNA dependent DNA polymeraseactivity, an DNA dependent DNA polymerase activity, an RNase (H)activity and an RNA polymerase activity. Some of these activities can becombined in one enzyme, so usually only 2 or 3 enzymes are necessary.Reverse transcriptase such as AMV (Avian Myoblastosis Virus) or MMLV(Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus) reverse transcriptase have both RNA- andDNA dependent DNA polymerase activity but also an inherent RNase Hactivity. In addition an RNase may be added to the reaction mixture of atranscription based amplification reaction, such as E. coli RNase H.

DNA dependent RNA polymerases synthesize multiple RNA copies from a DNAtemplate including a promoter recognized by the RNA polymerase. Examplesof RNA polymerases are polymerases from E. coli and bacteriophages T7,T3 and SP6. An example of an RNA polymerase commonly used withtranscription based amplification methods is T7 polymerase. Thus thepromoter that is incorporated in the template used to produce multiplecopies of RNA would then be the T7-promoter. Usually the templatecomprising the promoter has to be created starting from the nucleic acidcomprising the target sequence. Said nucleic acid may be present in thestarting material that is used as input for the amplification reaction.The nucleic acid present in the starting material will usually containthe target sequence as part of a much longer sequence. Additionalnucleic acid sequences may be present on both the 3′- and the 5′-end ofthe target sequence. The amplification reaction can be started bybringing together this nucleic acid from the starting material, theappropriate enzymes that together provide the above mentioned activitiesand at least one, but usually two, oligonucleotide(s). At least one ofthese oligonucleotides should comprise the sequence of the RNApolymerase promoter. Transcription based amplification methods areparticularly useful if the input material is single stranded RNA,although single or double stranded DNA can likewise be used as inputmaterial. When a transcription based amplification method is practicedon a sample with single stranded RNA with additional sequences on boththe 3′-end and the 5′ end of the target sequence a pair ofoligonucleotides that is conveniently used with the methods as describedin the prior art would consist of:

-   -   a first oligonucleotide (usually referred to as        “promoter-primer” or “forward-primer”) that is capable of        hybridizing to the 3′-end of the target sequence, which        oligonucleotide has the sequence of a promoter (preferably the        T7 promoter) attached to its 5′ end (the hybridizing part of        this oligonucleotide has the opposite polarity as the target RNA        used as input material).    -   a second oligonucleotide (usually referred to as “reverse        primer”) which comprises the 5′ end of the target sequence (this        oligonucleotide has the same polarity as the target RNA).

When such a pair of oligonucleotides, together with all enzymes havingthe appropriate activities, and a sufficient supply of the necessaryribonucleotides and deoxy-ribonucleotides are put together in onereaction mixture and are kept under the appropriate conditions (that is,under the appropriate buffer conditions and at the appropriatetemperature) for a sufficient period of time an isothermal continuousamplification reaction will start. Many variants of the above theme havebeen described in the prior art. A transcription based amplificationreaction comprises the synthesis of single stranded RNA transcripts froma template comprising a promoter (e.g. the T7 promoter) that isrecognized by an RNA polymerase (e.g. T7 RNA polymerase). A forwardprimer, comprising the promoter sequence, serves as a primer to initiatethe synthesis of a strand of DNA complementary to the target RNA.

The primer will be extended by the activity of RNA dependent DNApolymerase. The RNA-cDNA hybrid formed will be degraded by RNase H. Thisenables the hybridization of the specific reverse primer to the cDNA.Extension of this primer by RNA dependent DNA polymerase up to the 5′end of the cDNA results in the formation of a double-stranded promotersequence, whereby the promoter sequence that was part of the forwardprimer is used as a template. This double stranded promoter will then beused by the DNA dependent RNA polymerase to produce many new RNAmolecules that are complementary to the target RNA. After thisinitiation phase, the amplification enters a cyclic phase.

In practice, the whole sequence of events, starting from the singlestranded RNA in the sample, will take place as soon as all ingredientsare put together, and the mixture is brought to the appropriatetemperature for the enzymes to be all active. The practitioner of themethod need not to intervene to accomplish any of these steps.

As explained above, transcription based amplification methods areparticularly useful for amplifications that start from single strandedRNA. The starting material containing the nucleic acid to be amplifiedmay not contain the target nucleic acid as RNA of a defined length. Whena transcription based amplification method is performed on startingmaterial comprising the target sequence only as double stranded DNA,either circular or linear, the DNA would have to be converted to singlestranded nucleic acid. This can be achieved by separating the strands ofthe double stranded DNA by applying an elevated temperature (up to a 100degrees Celsius). The first of the oligonucleotides used as primers inthe amplification may than anneal to one of the single strands. Theenzymes used with current transcription based amplification methodscannot withstand such a high temperature and consequently can only beadded after the DNA strands have been separated. When one of theoligonucleotides anneals to a single strand DNA and is elongated, doublestranded DNA is created again, and the reaction mixture would have to besubjected to an elevated temperature sufficiently high to melt thedouble stranded DNA into its separated strands again. Again the enzymeswould be inactivated and new enzymes are to be added after the heat stephas been applied. The second oligonucleotide can now be added and annealto the strand that was created from the elongated first oligonucleotidein the first step. As one of the oligonudeotides includes a 5′ promotersequence of a DNA dependent RNA polymerase (see above), a doublestranded DNA template including a double stranded functional promoter isobtained, from which a first step of RNA production can take place. Theresulting RNA transcripts may enter the cyclic phase of theamplification and the process can further be isothermal.

From the above it is evident that starting a transcription basedamplification method from double stranded DNA can be a tedious process.It requires several specific actions to be taken by the practitioner,the sample has to be heated and cooled repeatedly and enzymes have to bereplenished after each heating step.

Some research has already gone into the developments of transcriptionbased amplification methods that can start from dsDNA, avoiding thetedious procedure described above to convert the dsDNA into ssRNA thatcan be used as input for the

A rather simple transcription based amplification method for dsDNA hasbeen disclosed in WO9925868.

According to the method described in WO9925868 dsDNA in a sample can beamplified by means of a transcription based amplification protocoldirectly, without any heat treatment step [of over 90 C] at all, or —ina preferred embodiment—with only one initial heating step dsDNA, that isrelatively short, is to be preferred in this method. Actually, themethod does not differ essentially from a conventional transcriptionbased amplification protocol to amplify ssRNA.

Alternatively, the double stranded DNA in the starting material can betranscribed into RNA before the start of the amplification. Such anextra step can be based on an enzyme, for instance E. coli RNApolymerase, that transcribes the double stranded DNA into RNA withoutthe presence of a promoter sequence, also referred to as a polymerasebinding site. Such a process of extra steps to facilitate theamplification of double stranded DNA by transcription basedamplification methods has been described in PCT patent application no.WO9602668. The extra steps described in this procedure do not onlyinclude extra handling steps and handling time, but also the use ofadditional ingredients, i.e. the E. coli RNA polymerase.

Another way of preparing suitable templates for transcription basedamplification methods for dsDNA is described in EP 397269.

In this patent a method is described whereby dsDNA is pretreated with arestriction enzyme. After treatment with the restriction enzyme only oneheat separation step is needed to create single stranded DNA (ssDNA).With this method a forward primer (promoter-primer) is used that has a3′ part including a sequence that is complementary to the exact 3′ endof one of the single strands of DNA and a 5′ end including a promotersequence recognized by a RNA polymerase (for example T7 RNA polymerase).When the promoter-primer is hybridized to the 3′ end of the singlestrand of DNA a double stranded complex Is formed, of which the 5′promoter sequence of the forward primer can serve as a template for anelongation reaction starting from the 3′ end of the DNA strand. Thus, adouble stranded promoter is formed by a DNA dependent DNA polymerase andthe resulting complex can serve as template for the DNA dependent RNApolymerase to synthesize multiple copies of RNA.

In WO9104340 also several methods are disclosed to start a transcriptionbased amplification reaction for single stranded DNA. Again, arestriction enzyme may be used to create an appropriate 3′ end on theDNA, which can hybridize with a 3′ sequence of a promoter primer.

In WO9104340 it is disdosed how the defined 3′ end on the ssDNA may becreated using a restriction enzyme that cuts ssDNA. In anotherembodiment of the same method, a restriction enzyme is used that cutsdsDNA, together with a restriction oligonucleotide that hybridizes tothe target ssDNA and thus creates a double stranded piece of DNA thatcan be cut by the restriction enzyme to create the appropriate 3′ end.With this method a small piece of the restriction oligonucleotide willremain after the restriction enzyme has cut the double stranded complex.However, according to the disclosure of WO9104340, the restrictionoligonucleotide is apparently chosen in such a way that after digestion,the remaining piece will be to small to stay hybridized to the 3′ end ofthe ssDNA, and thus will fall of to make room for the promoteroligonucleotide. However, the pre-treatment with a restriction enzyme asused with the prior art methods, although it may result in a sensitivetranscription based assay, require many extra handling steps andhandling time.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in humans is widespread. The virusthat causes hepatitis B appears to infect only humans and chimpanzees.

The hepatitis infection is transmitted by three general mechanisms: (1)by parenteral inoculation of infected blood or body fluids, either inlarge amounts as in blood transfusions or in minute amounts as throughan accidental skinprick; (2) by close family or sexual contact; and (3)by some mothers, who transmit the virus to their new-bom children. Undernatural conditions, HBV is not highly contagious. Transmission byinhalation occurs rarely, if ever. The transmission route throughcontaminated blood or blood products is a major threat to the humanhealth.

Infection with HBV often results in subclinical or acute self-limitedliver disease or can result in chronic long-term infection. Chronic HBVinfection elicits a spectrum of disease entities ranging from the mostsevere form of chronic active hepatitis to less severe chronicpersistent hepatitis to the asymptomatic carrier state. An array ofdiagnostic assays have recently been developed to aid the clinician indifferentiating hepatitis B virus infections from other forms of viralhepatitis (i.e., hepatitis A, hepatitis C or hepatitis E). However, theability to distinguish between an acute hepatitis B infection andsymptomatic chronic hepatitis B infection is still problematic. This isespecially true since chronic active hepatitis and chronic persistenthepatitis patients often demonstrate a cyclic pattern of hepatitischaracterized by acute exacerbation of liver injury alternating withnormal liver function.

After infection with HBV, large quantities of the virus and associatedparticles are present in the serum. During symptomatic phases ofinfection, both acute and chronic HBV patients have elevated liverenzyme levels, possess the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in theirserum, and produce antibodies to the nucleocapsid antigen (HBcAg).Antibodies specific for the HBsAg or the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)are not detected. The appearance of antibody to HBsAg is usually notobserved until approximately two months following disappearance ofcirculating HBsAg. The viral particles present in the serum are known toshed their surface coat exposing the nucleocapsid, known as the coreantigen (HBcAg). Antibody production of HBcAg occurs early in the courseof the acute phase of HBV infection and can persist for many years, andchronically infected patients can produce high titers of anti-HBcantibodies.

HBsAg is established as the most important marker of acute or chronichepatitis B infection, detectable in serum of infected individuals.HBsAg screening of donor blood for example, is essential to avoidtransmission of hepatitis B. It is clear that sensitivity is of utmostimportance in diagnostic HBV assays.

HBV is the smallest DNA virus known; and its genome shows a highlycompacted organization. A unique aspect in the replication cycle of HBVis that a pre-genomic mRNA serves as a template for the synthesis of thefirst viral DNA strand. The RNAse H activity of the HBV DNA polymerasesubsequently removes the mRNA and the complementary DNA strand is thensynthesized, generating a partially double stranded DNA molecule forpackaging in virions. Upon successful virus entry, the partially doublestranded DNA molecule is converted into a fully double stranded DNAmolecule.

HBV DNA can be detected in the blood of infected hosts who are HBsAg andHBeAg positive in more than 90% of cases. The state of the art method ofmeasuring the quantity of infectious particles is by measuring thequantity of viral DNA in serum or plasma, because it most reliablyreflects the amount of replicating virus. Several assays are availablefor this purpose, such as the branched DNA (bDNA) assay (Hendricks D A,Stowe B J, Hoo B S, Kolberg J, Irvine B D, Neuwald P D, Urdea M S,Perrillo R P, 1995. Quantitation of HBV DNA in human serum using abranched DNA (bDNA) signal amplification assay. Am J Clin Pathol 104:537-546.), DNA hybridization assays and quantitative PCR (Pawlotsky J M,Bastie A, Lonjon I, Remire J, Darthuy F, Soussy C J, Dhumeaux D, 1997.What technique should be used for routine detection and quantificationof HBV DNA in clinical samples? Journal of Virological Methods 65:245-253; Zaaijer H L, ter Borg F, Cuypers H T, Hermus M C, Lelie P N,1994. Comparison of methods for detection of hepatitis B virus DNA. JClin Microbiol 32: 2088-2091.). Most of these assays, however, have onlylimited sensitivity.

The present invention is concerned with a transcription basedamplification method including a restriction enzyme digestion. Themethod enables a sensitive and specific amplification (and subsequentdetection) of DNA of the Hepatitis B virus. With the method of theinvention HBV DNA can be amplified and detected in a more efficient waythan with prior art transcription based amplification methods incontrast to the prior art methods the use of the restriction enzyme doesnot complicate the procedures used method of the invention.

The present invention provides a method for the transcription basedamplification of a target HBV nucleic acid sequence starting from HBVDNA optionally present in a sample, comprising the steps of,

-   -   incubating the sample, suspected to contain HBV, in an        amplification buffer with one or more restriction enzymes        capable of cleaving the DNA at a selected restriction site, said        restriction enzyme creating a defined 3′ end on one of the DNA        strands, and a promoter-primer, said promoter-primer having a 5′        region comprising the sequence of a promoter recognized by a        DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and a 3′ region complementary to        the defined 3′ end of the DNA strand,    -   a second primer, having the opposite polarity of the        promoter-primer and comprising the 5′ end of the target        sequence, and    -   in case of a HBV ssDNA, a restriction primer,    -   maintaining the thus created reaction mixture under the        appropriate conditions for a sufficient amount of time for a        digestion by the restriction enzyme to take place,    -   subjecting the sample to a heat treatment at a temperature and        time sufficient to inactivate the restriction enzyme and/or to        render at least partially a double strand single stranded,    -   adding the following reagents to the sample:        -   an enzyme having RNA dependent DNA polymerase activity        -   an enzyme having DNA dependent DNA polymerase activity        -   an enzyme having RNase H activity        -   an enzyme having RNA polymerase activity, and    -   maintaining the thus created reaction mixture under the        appropriate conditions for a sufficient amount of time for the        amplification to take place.

The [for an adequate amplification] necessary (appropriate) nucleosidetriphosphates may be present already during the incubation step with therestriction enzyme(s), for example as part of the said amplificationbuffer. They may, however, be added later on in the process, for exampletogether with the enzymes after the heat treatment.

The person skilled in the art knows the enzymes used for thetranscription based amplification method, and the conditions under whichthe transcription based amplification method is carried out and is awareof all the usual modifications that can be made with regard tooptimizing transcription based amplification reactions. For example, theforward primer, the promoter primer, may comprise a purine regionbetween the promoter sequence on the 5′ end of the primer and thehybridizing sequence on the 3′ end of the primer.

The sequence of the primers is largely determined by the position of therestriction site chosen. The 3′ end of a forward primer should anneal tothe target sequence directly next to the restriction site. The primermay vary in length as long as it is sufficiently long to hybridize underthe conditions used with the amplification reaction. In general thehybridizing part of the primer consists of about 10 to about 35nucleotides.

Restriction primers, used in the method according to the invention ifthe target is HBV ssDNA, require that the overlap they show with theforward primer is minimal and the sequence of the restriction site isincorporated in such a way that the restriction enzyme actually cuts theDNA efficiently.

A restriction enzyme is an enzyme that can cut dsDNA at a selected site(i.e. a specific nucleotide sequence recognized by the enzyme). Inselecting an appropriate restriction enzyme for the method of theinvention care should be taken that a restriction site is chosen that ispresent in al variants of the HBV DNA (for example, a restriction sitethat is present in all genotypes of the hepatitis B virus, if theamplification is carried out to detect all viral HBV DNA in the sample).The restriction site should not be present in the DNA sequence inbetween the forward and reverse primers used.

The addition of the restriction enzyme results in the creation of adefined 3′ end of the target strand of the DNA, which is then availablefor binding to the hybridizing part of the promoter primer. Anadditional aspect is that, because of the digestion, denaturation ofthat part of the DNA will be improved and so primer binding will befacilitated. The promoter oligonucleotide containing the T7-promotersequence should be designed in such a way that the hybridizing part willinteract with the template directly upstream of the restriction site.The enzyme having DNA dependent DNA polymerase activity (usually areverse transcriptase such as MMLV-RT or AMV-RT) can extend the 3′ endof the target strand of the DNA created by the digestion with therestriction enzyme, using the primer as template. A double-strandedT7-promoter sequence will be formed and the production of amplicon RNAcan start.

Surprisingly it has been found that a restriction enzyme can be usedefficiently in an environment that is suitable for and adapted to atranscription based HBV DNA amplification process. In other words it hasbeen found that the use of a restriction enzyme to cut the HBV DNA thatis used as input material for a transcription based amplification, doesnot have to lead to complicated, additional handling of the sample. Theuse of the restriction enzyme is incorporated into and is part of thesteps that are usually already part of the protocol for a transcriptionbased DNA amplification.

All prior art methods describe the use of a restriction enzyme in thepreparation of a DNA template for transcription based amplification as aseparate pre-treatment prior to the actual transcription basedamplification. Consequently the prior art use of a restriction enzyme inpreparing the DNA template resulted in additional handling of thesample, like separate inactivation of the restriction enzyme andseparate purification of the DNA. It complicates the whole amplificationprocedure, especially an automated process, and increases the risk ofcontamination.

Although the addition of a restriction oligonucleotide together with arestriction enzyme has already been disclosed in WO9104340, it has notbeen disdosed prior to the present invention how the use of therestriction enzyme (and oligonucleotide) can efficiently be combinedwith the transcription based amplification.

It has not been disclosed in the prior art in which way the use ofrestriction enzyme can be combined with transcription basedamplification without additional sample handling and reagent addingsteps.

The method of the invention provides this combination withoutcomplicating the prior art transcription based DNA amplificationprocess.

The method of the invention hardly differs from a normal transcriptionbased amplification method. The only additional step to be taken is the“built in incubation” of the sample with the restriction enzyme, whichmeans that the restriction enzyme is used in such a way that the actualhandling of the sample does not differ from a conventional/prior arttranscription based DNA amplification process.

The preferred restriction enzyme used in the method of the invention is,of course, an enzyme that is relatively stable and retains a highactivity under conditions where it is added to a reaction mixturecomprising an amplification-buffer (which contains relatively highconcentrations of salts).

After the addition of the restriction enzyme the sample needs to beincubated under the appropriate conditions for the enzyme to be active,and for a suitable amount of time. The sample may be incubated with therestriction enzyme for a relatively short period of time, preferably forabout 10-20 minutes and more preferred for about 15 minutes at atemperature of about 35 to about 45° C. and more specifically at about37-41° C., obviously depending on the nature of the restriction enzymeused. In fact, this is the only additional measure to be taken, whencompared to a conventional transcription based DNA amplification method.

The method of the invention comprises the step of heating the sampleafter the incubation with the restriction enzyme. During this heatingthe restriction enzyme is inactivated and double stranded DNA isrendered single stranded [at least partially]. This heating step isalready part of the protocols for carrying out a transcription basedamplification method. These methods involve a heat treatment of thesample after primer-addition, to create optimal circumstances for primerannealing (the nucleic acid is stretched, strands or internal loops ofthe nucleic acid are separated, and during the cooling down,hybridization of the primers to the template is facilitated.)

The heating after the incubation with the enzyme may be done at a lowertemperature of about 50° C. or higher, but is preferably carried out byway of a short incubation (about 5-10 minutes) at a temperature above90° C. and preferably at 95+/−3° C.

Thereafter the sample may be cooled to the appropriate temperature for atranscription based amplification reaction to take place (usually aboutb 41° C.).

Due to the heating, at least a part of the double stranded DNA isrendered single stranded. As the primers, especially the promoteroligonucleotide, are already present prior to the heating of the sample,the heat treatment may facilitate primer annealing to DNA as well.

Thus, there is no need to purify the DNA from the sample after it hasbeen subjected to a treatment with the restriction enzyme. The enzyme issimply inactivated in the heat treatment that was already part of thetranscription based amplification procedure. It has been proven with themethod of the invention that this is sufficient to eliminate the riskthat the restriction enzyme will interfere with the actual transcriptionbased amplification reaction.

After the heat treatment the additional amplification reagents for thetranscription-based amplification are added in the usual way, and thetranscription based amplification can be carried out in the usual wayknown to the skilled person

The amplification enzymes are only added after the heat treatment, toprevent degradation of the enzymes during the heat treatment (unless, ofcourse, thermostable enzymes are used).

The major advantage of the method of the invention is that, even thoughthat additional reagents are used (e.g. the restriction enzyme) thisdoes not result in additional (separate) reaction steps or activities tobe carried out.

The fact that no additional handling of the sample is required isespecially important because every additional handling of the samplewould increase the contamination risk, which is to be avoided at allcosts, especially in amplification reactions. Moreover, if additionalsample handling steps were required this would complicate automation ofthe method.

The method of the invention may also be used for single stranded DNA.When the DNA is single stranded a restriction oligonucleotide orrestriction primer comprising a sequence complementary to the regionincluding the restriction site of the target DNA is added together withthe restriction enzyme.

The restriction oligonucleotide [restriction primer] hybridizes with thesingle stranded DNA and forms a double stranded complex that can be cutwith the restriction enzyme. The addition of yet another reagent (therestriction oligonucleotide) does not result in additional steps to becarried out by the practitioner. The restriction oligonucleotide cansimply be added together with the restriction enzyme and the otheroligonucleotides necessary for the amplification. Thus, there is no needto open the amplification system for yet another addition of reagents.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the function of therestriction oligonucleotide may be incorporated in the oligonucleotidethat also comprises the sequence of a promoter recognized by a DNAdependent RNA polymerase (the combined promoter and restriction-primer).In this way only two oligo's are needed for the amplification, apromoter [or forward] primer in which a sequence complementary to thetarget region including the restriction site has been incorporated andthe second [or reverse] primer. The sequence including the restrictionsite of this preferred [combined promoter and restriction] primer shouldpreferably be allocated in such a way that:

-   -   after digestion, the remaining part of the primer will denature        from the target during the heating step    -   the remaining part of the hybridizing sequence of the target is        long enough for a new combined promoter and restriction primer        to bind,    -   Extra nucleotides surrounding the restriction site are included        in the hybridization if necessary for the activity of the        restriction enzyme.

Thus, a part of the combined promoter and restriction primer will nowserve as restriction oligonucleotide; it will anneal to the target DNA,resulting in dsDNA comprising the restriction site recognized by therestriction enzyme. Subsequently the restriction enzyme will cut thesaid dsDNA, thus providing the defined 3′ end on the DNA.

Preferably, an at least 1000 fold excess of this combined promoter andrestriction primer with respect to the amount of target DNA should bepresent, as is also usual already for a conventional promoter primer intranscription based amplification reactions.

The method of the invention provides an efficient and sensitive methodfor the amplification and detection of viral DNA in samples suspected tocontain the hepatitis B virus (HBV), especially with the HBV primers andHBV probes as described herein. Hence, these HBV primers and HBV probesrepresent another embodiment of the invention,

The restriction site that is selected in the method of the invention ispreferably one that is conserved among the different genotypes of HBV.

Good results were obtained if the target sequence and restriction sitewere located in the part of the HBV genome that encodes the surfaceantigen.

Conserved restriction sites in the HBsAg coding region that areespecially useful in the method of the invention (together with therestriction enzymes that cut at these sites) are the XbaI site locatedat nucleotides 247-252 according to the EcoRI site, the BssSI sitelocated at nucleotides 253-258 according to the EcoRI site and the AvrIIsite located at nucleotides 178-183 according to the EcoRI site.

The oligonucleotide sequence of the primers is, of course, largelydetermined by the position of the restriction site chosen. The primermay vary in length as long as it is sufficiently long to hybridize underthe conditions used with the amplification reaction. In general thehybridizing part of the primer consists of about 10 to about 35nucleotides and more preferably of about 15 to about 30 nucleotides.

The 5′ end of a forward primer should anneal to the target sequencedirectly next to the restriction site.

The position of the reverse primer is less critical, preferably itshould have the sequence of a part of a conserved region sufficientlyremote from the position of the forward primer to allow a probe tohybridize to the amplified target sequence in the region in between theforward and reverse primer region.

The preferred restriction primer is an oligonucleotide that has aminimal overlap with the forward primer, includes the sequence of therestriction site in such a way that the restriction enzyme can actuallycut the dsDNA thus formed and is sufficiently long so as to hybridizewith the HBV DNA in a sufficient manner.

Oligonucleotide forward primers which are especially useful incombination with the XbaI, AvrII and/or BssSI restriction enzymes arepreferred embodiments of the invention. Specifically, oligonucleotidesequences comprising at least 10 and preferably more than 15 nucleotides[counted from the cleavage site] of the HBV hybridizing part of SEQ IDNo 1 [said hybridizing part as such being SEQ ID No 10] in combinationwith the restriction enzyme XbaI, of the HBV hybridizing part of SEQ IDNo 2 [said hybridizing part as such being SEQ ID No 11] in combinationwith BssSI and/or of the hybridizing part of SEQ ID No 3 [saidhybridizing part as such being SEQ ID No 12] in combination with Avrilare preferred.

Oligonucleotides which can be used as restriction primers, comprise atleast 10 and preferably more than 15 nucleotides “flanking” the HBV DNArestriction site concerned and especially “flanking” the XbaI sitelocated at nucleotides 247-252 according to the EcoRI site, the BssSIsite located at nucleotides 253-258 according to the EcoRI site and theAvrII site located at nudeotides 178-183 according to the EcoRI site.Particularly suitable restriction primers have the oligonucleotidesequences depicted in SEQ ID No. 8 and SEQ ID No 9.

Suitable probes for the detection of the amplified HBV target containfrom 10 to about 35 and more preferably from about 15 to about 30nucleotides which hybridize with the amplified HBV target and compriseat least 10 and preferably more than 15 nucleotides of the HBVhybridizing part of SEQ ID No 6 and SEQ ID No 7. (The HBV hybridizingparts of these sequences are shown in Table 1 and indicated as SEQ ID No13 and SEQ ID No 14 respectively. The probes shown in Table 1 arefurther provided at both ends with non-HBV nucleotides forming entirelyor sometimes together with a few HBV nucleotides the “stem” of theprobe; said stern being part of the detection system chosen).

Suitable reverse primers contain from about 10 to about 35 and morepreferably from about 15 to about 30 nucleotides of a conserved regionof HBV. Preferred reverse primers comprise at least 10 and preferablymore than 15 nucleotides of SEQ ID No 4 and SEQ ID No 5.

Another embodiment of the invention is a test kit suitable for carryingout the transcription based amplification and detection of HBV DNAaccording to the invention comprising

-   -   a restriction enzyme as herein described,    -   a forward primer that corresponds with the cleavage site of the        restriction enzyme chosen, as herein explained, and Is provided        with a promoter sequence,    -   other reagents for carrying out a transcription based        amplification reaction,    -   means for detecting the amplified HBV DNA, and    -   instructions for use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1: Schematic presentation of DNA NASBA including restriction enzymedigestion. The restriction enzyme (arrow) is only active during theinitiation phase of NASBA. After digestion, the forward primer ishybridized to the template. AMV RT will extend the 3′ end of the targetstrand (black) of the DNA, using the forward primer, including the T7promoter sequence (dark grey) as template. The T7 DdRp will recognizethe double stranded T7 promoter sequence and RNA amplicon (light grey)production will begin. The RNA amplicon sequence is complementary to thetarget DNA strand. During the cyclic phase, the RNA amplicon will beamplified and detected by molecular beacon technology. RNase H and thereverse primer are only required during the cyclic phase.

FIG. 2: NASBA of HBV DNA with and without digestion with XbaI incombination with forward primer S-p3.8. After digestion with XbaI,S-p3.8 can be used as template for the extension of target DNA. PrimerS-p4.5 is used as reverse primer and molecular beacon S-WT2 as probe. Asample without template (NT) is used as negative control.

FIG. 3: NASBA of HBV DNA with and without digestion with BssSI incombination with forward primer S-p3.10. After digestion with BssSI,S-p3.10 can be used as template for the extension of target DNA. PrimerS-p4.5 is used as reverse primer and molecular beacon S-WT2 as probe. Asample without template (NT) is used as negative control.

FIG. 4. NASBA of HBV DNA with and without digestion with XbaI incombination with forward primer S-p3.10. S-p3.10 can not be used astemplate for the extension of target DNA, after digestion with XbaI.Primer S-p4.5 is used as reverse primer and molecular beacon S-WT2 asprobe. A sample without template (NT) is used as negative control.

FIG. 5. NASBA of HBV DNA with and without digestion with BssSI incombination with forward primer S-p3.8. S-p3.8 can be used as templatefor the extension of target DNA, after digestion with BssSI. PrimerS-p4.5 is used as reverse primer and molecular beacon S-WT2 as probe. Asample without template (NT) is used as negative control.

FIG. 6. NASBA of HBV DNA with and without digestion with AvrII incombination with forward primer S-p3.5. S-p3.5 can be used as templatefor the extension of target DNA, after digestion with AvrII. PrimerS-p4.4 is used as reverse primer and molecular beacon S-WT4 as probe. Asample without template (NT) is used as negative control. The inventionis further exemplified by the following Examples.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Amplification of HBV DNA

Two conserved restriction sites (XbaI and BssSI) are encoded in theconserved region (nt 244 to 285 according to the EcoRI-site) of theS-gen of HBV DNA. As this part of the S-region can be sinqle-strandedDNA of negative polarity, an oligonucleotide (‘restriction primer’ (RP)complementary to the region including the restriction site sequences wasadded to create a double-stranded restriction site for all genomic DNAspresent. HBV DNA was isolated from a series of dilution of plasmainfected with HBV genotype A of 3×10⁹ geq/ml, using the NuclisensExtractor (Organon Teknika). Following the standard procedure asdescribed for RNA isolation (Operator Manual Extractor, 41001-9, rev A,1999), a 50 I extract is obtained. Five I of the extract is usedpeassay. The restriction enzyme digestion was performed in NASBA buffer(40 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.5,12 mM MgCl₂, 70 mM KCl, 15% v/v DMSO, 5 mM DTT, 1mM each dNTP, 2 mM ATP, 2 mM CTP, 2 mM UTP, 1.5 mM GTP, 0.5 mM ITP, 0.2μM forward primer (S-p3.8 for XbaI, and S-p3.10 for BssSI, table 1), 0.2μM reverse primer (S-p4.5, table 1), 0.1 μM molecular beacon probe(S-W12, table 1), 0.17 μM restriction primer (RP-3, table 1)) and 0.2units restriction enzyme BssSI (New England BioLabs, Inc., Beverly,Mass., USA) or 3.0 units restriction enzyme XbaI (New England BioLabs,Inc., Beverly, Mass., USA). After incubation of 15 min at 41 C, therestriction enzymes were heatinactivated and the DNA template denaturedat 95 C for 5 min. Hybridization of the primers occured during ccalingdown to 41 C for 3 min. Subsequently, NASBA enzymes (2.1 μg BSA, 0.08units RNase H, 32 units T7 RNA polymerase and 6.4 units AMV reversetranscriptase) were added, the reaction mixture was mixed by gentlytapping and short centrifugation, and the amplification and real-timedetection was started. The reaction mixture was incubated at 41° C. inthe NucliSens EasyQ Analyzer (Organon Teknika) for 120 minutes withfluorescence monitoring every minute. The reactions were excited at 485nm and the emission signal was measured at 518 nm.

Example 1.1 Amplification of HBV DNA including XbaI Digestion

A NASBA assay with and without the treatment with the restriction enzymeXbaI was performed. The optimal concentration of XbaI was determinedunder NASBA conditions by digestion of 10⁹ copies of a PCR fragmentincluding the amplicon region of the HBV DNA, and was shown to be 3units. S-p3.8 is used as forward primer and can be used as template byAMV RT to extend the template DNA after digestion with XbaI. Withoutdigestion a sensitivity of 3×10⁶ geq/ml is obtained while afterdigestion the sensitivity is 3×10³ geq/ml, meaning a 1000 fold increasein sensitivity (FIG. 2). In addition, without digestion the time topositivity (TTP) is about 16 minutes while after XbaI digestion this isabout 6 min, meaning a decrease in TTP of about 10 min (FIG. 2). Bothare indications for an improved amplification reaction.

Example 1.2 Amplification of HBV DNA including BssSI Digestion

A NASBA reaction, with and without treatment with the restriction enzymeBssSI was performed with the same HBV DNA extract and comparablereaction conditions as described above. The ontimal concentration ofBssSI was determined under NASBA conditions by digestion of 10⁹ copiesof a PCR fragment including the amplicon region of the HBV DNA, and wasshown to be 0.2 units. S-p3.10 is used as forward primer and can be usedas template by AMV RT to extend the template DNA after digestion withBssSI. Again significant test improvements were obtained as a result oftreatment with the restriction enzyme BssSI (FIG. 3). Without digestiona sensitivity of only 3×10⁷ geq/ml is obtained while after digestion thesensitivity is 3×10⁴ geq/ml, meaning again a 1000 fold increase insensitivity (FIG. 3) as a result of the digestion. In addition, withoutdigestion the time to positivity (TTP) is about 21 minutes while afterBssSI digestion this is about 11 min, meaning again a decrease in TUP ofabout 10 min (FIG. 3). The results prove that the digestion of HBV DNAwith a restriction enzyme prior to the NASBA reaction can considerablyimprove the amplification and so the detection of a HBV DNA

Example 1.3 Amplification of HBV DNA including XbaI digestion-2

To test if the digestion by itself or the combination of the restrictionenzymes with the selected primers was the basis for the improved assayresults, the assay including the XbaI digestion was repeated with primerS-p3.10 instead of S-p3.8. AMV RT can not use S-p3.10 as template toextend the target sequence after digestion with XbaI. As can be seen inFIG. 4, only a slight increase in sensitivity (10 fold) and smalldecrease in TTP (about 5 min, from 21 to 16 min) is obtained afterdigestion with XbaI in combination with S-p3.10. This indicates that theextension of the template during the initiation of NASBA is responsiblefor the improved results as obtained with XbaI and primer S-p3.8 andwith BssSI and primer Sp3.10.

Example 1.4 Amplification of HBV [NA including BssSI digesfion-2

To test if the extension of the target was indeed the basis for theimproved assay results, the assay including the BssSI digestion wasrepeated with primer S-p3.8 instead of S-p3.10. AMV RT can use S-p3.8 astemplate to extend the target sequence after digestion with BssSI.However, after digestion with BssSI, only 17 nucleotides are included inhybridization of the primer to the target sequence while normally thisis about 20 nucleotides. Despite this difference, again dear testimprovements were obtained after digestion with BssSI (FIG. 5). A doubledigestion can be performed with both XbaI and BssSI included in NASBAusing the primers S-p3.8 and S-p4.5, restriction primer RT-3 andmolecular beacon S-WT2 without loss of amplification efficiency ascompared to the single digestion NASBA assays.

Example 1.5 Amplification of HBV DNA including AvrII Digestion

The restriction site (AvrII) is encoded in another conserved region (nt177 to 192 according to the EcoRI-site) of the S-gen of HBV DNA. Forwardprimer S-p3.5, reverse primer S-p4.4, molecular beacon S-WT4 andrestriction primer RP-1 (table 1) were as used in NASBA. The AMV RT canextent the target strand of HBV DNA after digestion with AvrII, usingS-p3.5 as template. The same reaction conditions as described above wereused. A NASBA reaction, with and without treatment with the restrictionenzyme AvrII was performed with the same HBV DNA extract as describedabove, using 2 units of AvrII per reaction. Without digestion, asensitivity of >10⁸ geq/ml is obtained while after digestion thesensitivity is 1×10⁵ geq/ml, meaning a >10³ fold increase in sensitivity(FIG. 6) as a result of the digestion. Again, these results prove thatthe digestion of HBV DNA with a restriction enzyme digestion included inthe NASBA reaction can considerably improve the amplification of HBV DNATABLE 1 Primer and probe sequences Primer/Probe Sequence Label S-p3.85′AATTCTAATACGACTCACTATAGGG a (SEQ ID No. 1) GACTCGTGGTGGACTTCTCTCA 3′S-p3.10 5′AATTCTAATACGACTCACTATAGGG (SEQ ID No. 2) agaaGGTGGACTTCTCTCAATTTTC 3′ S-p3.5 5′AATTCTAATACGACTCACTATAGGG (SEQ ID No.3) aga GGACCCCTGCTCGTGTTACAGGC 3′ S-p4.5 5′GAACCAACAAGAAGATGAGGCA 3′(SEQ ID No. 4) S-p4.4 5′GGGACTGCGAATTTTGGCCA 3′ (SEQ ID No. 5) S-WT2 5′CGATCG AGGGACTGCGAATTTTGGC FAM (SEQ ID No. 6) CGATCG 3′ S-WT4 5′ GGATCCCFAM (SEQ ID No. 7) TIGAAAATTGAGAGAAGTCCACCAC GGGATCC 3′ RP-35′AATACCGCAGAGTCTAGACTCGTGG 3′NH₂ (SEQ ID No. 8) 3′                Xbal|   BssSI RP-1 5′CATCAGGAYTCCTAGGA 3′ 3′NH₂ (SEQ IDNo. 9)                Avrll*The 17-promoter sequence is written in italics, the purine-stretch inlower case, the stem sequence of the probe in underlined italics and therestriction sites are indicated.

1. A method for the transcription based amplification of a target HBVnucleic acid sequence starting from HBV DNA optionally present in asample, said method comprising: -a) incubating the sample, suspected tocontain HBV, in an amplification buffer with i) one or more restrictionenzymes capable of cleaving the HBV DNA at a selected restriction site,said restriction enzyme creating a defined 3′ end of the said HBV DNAstrand(s), ii) a promoter-primer, said promoter-primer having a 5′region comprising the sequence of a promoter recognized by aDNA-dependent RNA polymerase and a 3′ region complementary to thedefined 3′ end of the DNA strand, iii) a second or reverse primer,having the opposite polarity of the promoter-primer and comprising the5′ end of the said target sequence, and iv) in case of HBV ssDNA as thetarget sequence, a restriction primer; -b) maintaining the thus createdreaction mixture under the appropriate conditions for a sufficientamount of time for a digestion by the restriction enzyme to take place;-c) subjecting the sample thus obtained to a heat treatment at atemperature and time sufficient to inactivate the restriction enzymeand/or to render at least partially a double strand single stranded; -d)adding the following reagents to the sample: i) an enzyme having RNAdependent DNA polymerase activity ii) an enzyme having DNA dependent DNApolymerase activity iii) an enzyme having Rnase H activity iv) an enzymehaving RNA polymerase activity; and e) maintaining the thus createdreaction mixture under the appropriate conditions for a sufficientamount of time for the amplification to take place.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the DNA is double stranded HBV DNA.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the DNA is single stranded and thepromoter primer and the restriction primer are combined in using acombined promoter and restriction primer comprising a sequencecomplementary to the region including the restriction site of the targetssDNA and the sequence of a promoter recognized by a DNA-dependent RNApolymerase.
 4. The method according to claim 1 in which nucleosidetriphosphates are added to the initial incubation mixture prior to theheat treatment.
 5. The method according to claim 1 in which a reversetranscriptase is used combining the activities of the enzyme having RNAdependent DNA polymerase activity and the enzyme having DNA dependentDNA activity.
 6. The method according to claim 1, in which a reversetranscriptase is used having inherent RNase H activity replacing 3enzymes, namely the enzyme having RNA dependent DNA polymerase activity,the enzyme having DNA dependent DNA activity as well as the enzymehaving Rnase H activity.
 7. The method according to claim 1, in whichthe incubation temperature is from about 35° C. to about 45° C.
 8. Themethod according to claim 1 in which to the heating step is carried outat a temperature between about 92° C. and about 98° C.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein a restriction enzyme is used that cuts theHBV DNA at a site that is conserved among the different genotypes ofHBV.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the restriction siteis located in the part of the HBV genome that encodes the surfaceantigen.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the restrictionsite is an XbaI site located at nucleotides 247-252 according to theEcoRI site, the BssSI site located at nucleotides 253-258 according tothe EcoRI site or an AvrII site located at nucleotides 178-183 accordingto the EcoRI site, and the restriction enzyme used is the XbaI, BssSI orAvrII restriction enzyme.
 12. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe restriction primer is an oligonucleotide containing from about 10 toabout 35 nucleotides which hybridize with the HBV target and comprise atleast 10 nucleotides flanking the XbaI site located at nucleotides247-252 according to the EcoRI site, the BssSI site located atnucleotides 253-258 according to the EcoRI site or the AvrII sitelocated at nucleotides 178-183 according to the EcoRI site.
 13. Themethod according to claim 12, wherein the restriction primer has theoligonucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 8 or SEQ ID No
 9. 14. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the promoter or forward primer is anoligonucleotide containing from about 10 to about 35 nucleotides whichhybridize with the HBV target and comprising at least 10 nucleotides,counted from the cleavage site, of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No10 in combination with the restriction enzyme XbaI, or of SEQ ID No 11in combination with BssSI or of SEQ ID No 12 in combination with AvrII,linked to a promoter sequence.
 15. The method according to claim 14,wherein the promoter oligonucleotide has the nucleotide sequence of SEQID No 1, SEQ ID No 2, or SEQ ID No.
 3. 16. The method according to claim1, wherein the amplified HBV nucleic acid is additionally detected usinga hybridization probe comprising an oligonucleotide sequence containingfrom about 10 to about 35 nucleotides which hybridize with the amplifiedHBV target and comprise at least 10 nucleotides of SEQ ID No. 13 or SEQID No
 14. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the probe hasthe oligonucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No 6 or SEQ ID No
 7. 18. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein the second or reverse primer is anoligonucleotide containing from about 10 to about 35 nucleotides andcomprising at least 10 nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ IDNo. 4 or SEQ ID No.
 5. 19. An oligonucleotide with an nucleotidesequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID No 1, SEQ ID No.2, SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 4, SEQ ID No. 5, SEQ ID No. 6, SEQ ID No. 7,SEQ ID No. 8, SEQ ID No. 9, SEQ ID No. 10, SEQ ID No. 11, SEQ ID No. 12,SEQ ID No. 13, and SEQ ID No.
 14. 20. A set of oligonucleotide primerssuitable for use in the amplification of HBV nucleic acid according tothe method of claim 1 comprising a promoter primer, wherein the promoterprimer is an oligonucleotide containing from about 10 to about 35nucleotides which hybridize with the HBV target and comprising at least10 nucleotides, counted from the cleavage site, of the nucleotidesequence of SEQ ID No. 10 in combination with the restriction enzymeXbaI, or of SEQ ID No. 11 in combination with BssSI or of SEQ ID No. 12in combination with AvrII, linked to a promoter sequence and a reverseprimer, wherein the reverse primer is an oligonucleotide containing fromabout 10 to about 35 nucleotides and comprising at least 10 nucleotidesof the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 4 or SEQ ID No.
 5. 21. A testkit suitable for carrying out the transcription based amplification anddetection of HBV DNA according to claim 1 comprising a restrictionenzyme capable of cleaving the HBV DNA at a selected restriction site,said restriction enzyme creating a defined 3′ end of the said HBV DNAstrand(s), a forward primer that corresponds with the cleavage site ofthe restriction enzyme chosen, said forward primer having a 5′ regioncomprising the sequence of a promoter recognized by a DNA-dependent RNApolymerase and a 3′ region complementary to the defined 3′ end of theDNA strand, and is provided with a promoter sequence, other reagents forcarrying out a transcription based amplification reaction, and means fordetecting the amplified HBV DNA.
 22. The method according to claim 1, inwhich the incubation temperature is from about 37° C. to about 41° C.23. The method according to claim 1, in which the heating step iscarried out at a temperature of about 95° C.
 24. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the restriction primer is an oligonucleotide containingfrom about 15 to about 30 nucleotides which hybridize with the HBVtarget and comprise at least 15 nucleotides flanking the XbaI sitelocated at nucleotides 247-252 according to the EcoRI site, the BssSIsite located at nucleotides 253-258 according to the EcoRI site or theAvrII site located at nucleotides 178-183 according to the EcoRI site.25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the promoter or forwardprimer is an oligonucleotide containing from about 15 to about 30nucleotides which hybridize with the HBV target and comprising at least15 nucleotides, counted from the cleavage site, of the nucleotidesequence of SEQ ID No. 10 in combination with the restriction enzymeXbaI, or of SEQ ID No. 11 in combination with BssSI or of SEQ ID No. 12in combination with AvrII, linked to a promoter sequence.
 26. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the amplified HBV nucleic acid isadditionally detected using a hybridization probe comprising anoligonucleotide sequence containing from about 15 to about 30nucleotides which hybridize with the amplified HBV target and compriseat least 15 nucleotides of SEQ ID No. 13 or SEQ ID No.
 14. 27. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the second or reverse primer is anoligonucleotide containing from about 15 to about 30 nucleotides andcomprising at least 15 nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ IDNo. 4 or SEQ ID No.
 5. 28. A set of oligonucleotide primers comprising apromoter primer, wherein the promoter primer is an oligonucleotidecontaining from about 15 to about 30 nucleotides which hybridize withthe HBV target and comprising at least 15 nucleotides, counted from thecleavage site, of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 10 incombination with the restriction enzyme XbaI, or of SEQ ID No. 11 incombination with BssSI or of SEQ ID No. 12 in combination with AvrII,linked to a promoter sequence and a reverse primer, wherein the reverseprimer is an oligonucleotide containing from about 15 to about 30nucleotides and comprising at least 15 nucleotides of the nucleotidesequence of SEQ ID No. 4 or SEQ ID No. 5.